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This hotel has a philosophy to take good care of guests in a relaxed way. It is carried through by all staff in a very natural way. Well done to the management for the wonderful atmosphere they have created in a beautiful area.

Stayed: September 2013, traveled with family

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Ask marilyn20 about Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa

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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Picked the Ilsington Country House Hotel off the internet as part of a whistle-stop tour of the South West in July. We stayed four nights and, quite frankly, if we'd known in advance how good it was, we'd have arranged to stay a week at least, but we had to move on.The room was very comfortable, if a little small for the quantity of furniture, the food in the restaurant and Blue Tiger bar was excellent. We ate out on the terrace one evening and it was so relaxing, looking out over the extensive garden, even when a large group of cyclists arrived unexpectedly - it just added to the atmosphere.The position of the hotel, so close to Dartmoor, is excellent, and we went up to see the Dartmoor ponies every day. We also saw a huge dragonfly on the hotel's pond!!The staff were very polite, friendly and helpful, and all in all this hotel offers excellent value. We hope to return next time we visit the South West.We would highly recommend this hotel.ps haven't rated the Spa facilities as we didn't use them.

Stayed: July 2013, traveled as a couple

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Ask David W about Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa

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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Our third stay at Ilsington, this time for three nights.We booked a deluxe room primarily for the modern bathroom, but also enjoyed the extra comfort and quiet location.We dined twice in the main restaurant and once in the Blue Tiger and all meals were excellent - well presented and priced, with superb, friendly service. The young waiting staff were extremely pleasant and obliging.We enjoyed the swimming pool and using the grounds when the weather permitted.All in all, this is a relaxing, very friendly and comfortable country hotel in a good location ideal as a base whilst touring around Devon.

Stayed: September 2013, traveled as a couple

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Ask tot2006 about Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa

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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Richard H, Owner at Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa, responded to this reviewResponded October 3, 2013

Thank you so much for your kind comments and it was good to welcome you back again. As always, we shall pass on your words to the staff who are always pleased to receive them! We look forward to welcoming you back again soon. Kind regards, Richard.

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

We enjoyed three nights in a very comfortable deluxe room facing the back of the property out to the hills and farms beyond. We had previously booked two nights and were able to bring forward another night with the very helpful phone assistance of the experienced reception staff.The room was spacious and light, the windows could open, the room was serviced well and plenty of fresh drinking water was left each day. We also needed to use the laundry service which was very efficient and quick.We did have some challenges with the high tech shower/steam unit as it was small but nevertheless effective!!The meals were of a high standard and the casual Blue Tiger bistro was very homely and suitable for most meals. The wine selection was also more than adequate.The location was excellent for us to access Dartmoor and surroundings which were stunning.We would contemplate returning for a specific fishing trip in the future.Well done to Richard and all his staff.

Room Tip: the deluxe rooms are larger that others and have the six foot bed which is worthwhile.

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Stayed: September 2013, traveled as a couple

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Ask JohnB2503 about Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa

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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Richard H, Owner at Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa, responded to this reviewResponded October 3, 2013

Dear John. Thanks for the review and we are really pleased you enjoyed yourselves. The points you covered in your review really are the points we try so hard to achieve and it is good to have them noticed. We certainly hope you will return for that fishing trip and by then Ilsington will be even better! Kind regards, Richard.

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This hotel is in a fantastic location on Dartmoor and easily accessible from the motorway. I stayed here with my two boys and husband over a weekend and have to say that the service was superb. The staff were all extremely friendly and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. They even came up to our room to help with the Playstation, which was helpfully provided, when our boys could not get it to work.

The home made flapjack, tea and coffee and bottled water in the room was a nice touch and very welcome as we arrived after an afternoon spent rowing!

The food was also superb. We ate in the bistro style Blue Tiger and thoroughly enjoyed our dinner, which incidentally was reasonably priced too. The home made ice cream was particularly delicious! The boys also enjoyed challenging their dad to a game of chess that was provided in the lounge areas.

Breakfast was good, we all ordered different cooked breakfasts and mercifully they all arrived hot and at the same time.

The boys thoroughly enjoyed the pool and were really impressed by how deep it was. In fact they ended up swimming both before and after breakfast - it was hard to get them to leave!

I would thoroughly recommend this hotel to families. Be sure to ask for a family suite.

Room Tip: If travelling with a family ask for one of the suites.

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Stayed: August 2013, traveled with family

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Ask smarty40a about Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa

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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Richard H, Owner at Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa, responded to this reviewResponded October 3, 2013

Dear Smarty 40, Thank you very much for your kind review. It is refreshing when the 'little extras' are pointed out, such as the homemade flap jacks, home produced eggs, the Playstation in the family suites and our own bottled mineral water. They are extras that take time and effort to implement, but are introduced to enhance your stay and make you as comfortable as possible. We also want you to come back! Many thanks again for taking the time to write and we hope to see you on another occasion. Kind regards, Richard.

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I should start my review with stating the nightly cost of we paid was £145.00 inc breakfast. Also it was a surprise gift from my wife, who had been enthusing about it all week, that is before we arrived and then her expression turned to blue rage! The building itself stands in lovely grounds and the views are amazing, it has a gym and a swimming pool added on. There is a restuarant, which was OK. The hotel was occupied during our stay by the elderly, which made the experience at least in the common areas pleasant and quiet. In many respects staying at this hotel made us feel we had moved into an old folks home and I'm 60! On reflection, it is my belief that the quality of the rooms both in size and decor are not worthy of the grand price that is charged. The first room, (see photo) we were offered was similar in size to a Travelodge room and after refusing this, we were offered another room, more or less of similar pokey size, but at least containing furniture made of wood.

The insulation between rooms was poor and so one could hear pensioners banging around and fussing in the room above until late into the evening and again at 7.00 am. I pose the question, just how many times can a person open and close a draw loudly and stomp around in a small room between the hours of 9pm and 11pm and again early in the morning? According to my wife, she was also awoken in the night by our next door neighbour urinating into the toilet bowl. Luckily for me I had had the foresight to have had plugged my ears with ear plugs!On another note, we thought that the standard shown when making up our room was awful, (See photo) I would say, it must have taken all of 2 minutes, if that! The pillows were exactly as we left them, in fact all that happened was the chambermaid had yanked the duvet to the top.My teenage son makes up his bedroom to a similar standard in 15 seconds! All of the above would be just about tolerable in a hotel charging under£100 per night ( Only in the UK of course) but not at the high rates charged at the Ilsington Country House Hotel. This is of course only my personal point of view and I must say the old folk looked more than contented at their stay and truly the reading room in the evening was as quiet as the grave even though packed with pensioners studiously reading books and carefully turning the pages to avoid causing undue noise. I liked the silence, but my wife who is 22 years my junior, couldn't take the crypt like atmosphere and stormed out with her Ipod earphones in full blast, listening to her hippoty-hoppity sounds, no doubt! They all cleared off at 10pm leaving the room empty and my wife fearfully ventured back in. Finally, I must point out that all the young staff were delightful, humorous and helpful and unlike in London, all British it would appear. Also the breakfast was good on the first day and not so good on the second.

WARNING: This is a warning to those with children or grandchildren who may visit you during your stay. I brought the matter to the attention of the receptionist who with pursed lips then summoned the owner, he listened to my concerns, but his glazed expression did little to assure me that the problem would be sorted, so it is my duty to mention it, just in case nothing is done. At the rear of the property there is a large area where the hotel keeps chickens. They are penned in by an inner fence and an outer fence. The outer fence looks harmless enough, it is about a metre high. However, on closer inspection you will see that a stretch of razor sharp barbed wire ( see photo) runs on the inside lip of the top horizontal rail that runs the length of the fence, which is maybe 100ft or so. The wire stops for a short distance on the gate run.The wire is not visible from the front. On seeing the chickens from the hotel, young children will be tempted to storm down to the fence and climb it to see the chickens. At this point they will grasp the top beam and possibly rip their hands to shreds on the unseen barbed wire, which will spoil yours and their day. So beware! I myself gently clenched the rail and felt the sting of the barbed wore just about to enter my flesh. Incidentally, this barbed wire serves no apparent purpose that I can see! Worryingly the owner said it had been like this for 20 years without mishap, in other words, "You're wasting my time!" maybe he misunderstood the problem, because I think the barbed wire looked very recent. In any event it is a needless nasty accident waiting to happen and happen it will!

Stayed: September 2013, traveled as a couple

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Ask pcgrowler about Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa

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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Tim H, Owner at Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa, responded to this reviewResponded September 11, 2013

Dear PcGrowler,

I am pleased to say that despite your tirade you did rate us as average which is far above what I would have expected from you.

I just hope that anyone reading your comments will realise what sort of a person you are and make a judgement on your review in this light.

Having had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of your anger and bile at finding barbed wire in the countryside I am not even prepared to address any of the issues you have raised (in my opinion you are unreasonable). Instead I hope that readers will take a balanced view and look at all the positive reviews we have had.

Sorry!

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The tiny village of Ilsington just below Hay Tor is blessed with a new community shop and this very splendid hotel. We stayed there for a couple of nights at the end of August to join a family party in the village. What a wonderful building and what great views. Not sure of its history but Brig Gen Roosevelt and Monty met there to discuss rehearsals of some of the D-Day battles.We have traveled all over the world, my wife has been in travel and tourism all her long working life and has inspected more hotel rooms than most people have had hot breakfasts. We run a B&B so we think we know what we're looking for. So..............Breakfast was absolutely tip top. Fastidious, uniformed but friendly and helpful staff. Immaculate linen. Lovely cereal, fruit and yogurt etc buffet. Very good fresh coffee served to table. I had a kipper and perfectly poached egg first day and a beautifully presented scrambled eggs and smoked salmon the next. Let me tell you how good this was - eggs - their own - you can see the free range chicken run across the field from the dining room; smoked salmon - smoked on the premises as per several other smoked items; bread toast - made on the premises - various kinds - delicious. And I'm stealing that presentation for my own scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.We didn't actually use the dining room because we were out partying but we invited family along for lunch on the Sunday and, because it was so sunny and warm opted to sit on the terrace. Between the 6 of us we shared their smoked meat platter (for 2) plus their smoked fish platter (for 2) and their vegetable platter (for 2) plus some steamed mussels and chicken liver paté. Wow! And all made as far as we could tell, on the premises. Awesome. Tastes and flavours leapt out from everywhere. (Except, strangely, the mussels which could have done with an extra garlic oomph - and they came a little late and were a tad too cool).The accommodation. We opted for 'country' on the first floor and they were absolutely fine. Clean comfortable and everything we wanted. If you want 'superior' or 'deluxe' they look super and spiffing - but of course at extra cost. The swimming pool and jacuzzi were great - our rellies were club members and showed us how much fun they have in the pool. Looked into the gymn - very impressive - enjoy.Only criticism is that hall carpets look a bit at the end of their life but that's being terribly tough on a place which maintains such high standards in such an out of the way location.HIGHLY recommended. Enjoy this place and the surrounding area. And I hope you get weather as good as we had.

Room Tip: standard and country are good, clean comfortable and absolutely fine. If you want luxury and pristin...

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Stayed: August 2013, traveled as a couple

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Ask DuncanMcAd about Ilsington Country House Hotel and Spa

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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

This highly rated country house hotel is set in 11 acres of private land within the boundaries of the Dartmoor National Park. The hotel has its own flock of hens busy laying eggs for breakfast and there is an overall sense of calm and relaxation around the hotel. Award winning food is served in the main Restaurant whilst the Blue Tiger Inn with its large sun terrace offers more informal dishes of excellent quality. Emphasis is on local produce and homemade creations. Lovely cream teas can be enjoyed in one of the comfortable lounges. Beautiful new Spa opened in 2015 with hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room, fitness suite and indoor pool. Awarded Gold for Spa and Wellness Experience in South West Tourism's 2017 awards. 3 treatment rooms also available offering a range of luxury treatments. Located in the Dartmoor National Park, yet only 4 miles from the A38 making Ilsington and ideal place for exploring South Devon. Included in the Good Hotel Guide....more less

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Also Known As:

Ilsington Country Hotel

Best Western Newton Abbot

Hotel Ilsington Country

Ilsington Country House Hotel And Spa Dartmoor National Park

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